Most modern cars go faster than you're ever allowed to on public roads, but that doesn't mean you don't want your car to be the fastest. Jalopnik readers found the ten street-legal cars in the US of A that are the quickest of all.

We just heard how Robert Maduri got snubbed by a Ferrari dealer and is looking at a McLaren MP4-12C …
Read more Read more

Welcome back to Answers of the Day — our daily Jalopnik feature where we take the best ten responses from the previous day's Question of the Day and shine it up to show off. It's by you and for you, the Jalopnik readers.

If you don't want to click through the gallery you can see the post in a single page right here.

Why it's so fast: The SSC Aero has a supercharged V8 making over 1,000 horsepower in a highly aerodynamic body. Top speed is a Guinness-certified 267.81 mph. The SSC is also not weighed down by steel or even aluminum (it's made out of carbon fiber and titanium) or frivolous safety aids such as ABS and traction control.

What's cooler than a huge horsepower tuner car? A huge horsepower tuner car that you can drive …
Read more Read more

Why it's so fast: The big engine/small car idea is taken to extremes by Hennessey. Start with one of the lightest sports cars on sale today (Lotus Exige) and then stuff in the de facto tuner engine (Corvette V8). Modify said engine (you'll need, oh, 1,200 horsepower) and the result is this Frankenstein of a car. Still, it's a Frankenstein that'll tie a Bugatti Veyron SS in the standing quarter.

Why it's so fast: Bugatti's quad-turbocharged W16 puts out 1,200 horsepower, which most people would find sufficient. Not so for the trophy-polishers at Bugatti, because when the SSC Aero came and stole their top speed crown, they decided to add a Volkswagen GTI's worth of power to the Veyron. The result is the Super Sport, which is limited to 258 mph so that it doesn't destroy its own tires. Set if free and it'll be knocking at 270's door.

What's cooler than a huge horsepower tuner car? A huge horsepower tuner car that you can drive …
Read more Read more

Why it's so fast: Many of the companies on this list choose to use highly modified Corvette V8 engines in their supercars. Koenigsegg builds their own. Why? So that they can make a 5.0 liter twin-turbocharged V8 that produces 1,100 horsepower on ethanol. The results are a car that'll let you pass a Veyron SS and pull up in style to your Green Peace meeting.

Why it's so fast: The car has two X's and Landshark in its name. They should have just added a third X and quit the false modesty, because this modified Mosler has 2,500 horsepower and weighs less than most economy cars.

Why it's so fast: If the Switzer GT-R delights with 1,000 horsepower, then the AMS Alpha 12 terrifies with 1,500. AMS boasts that the Alpha will run 60-130 mph in 3.31 seconds. To put that in perspective, the Veyron does it in 5.6 and the Enzo in 7.3. This is the kind of thrust that puts larger planes in the air and will almost kill you at 233 mph.

Why it's so fast: "Big Red" is actually the same size as all other Camaros of the same vintage. What's big about it is it's 9.8 liter engine that can't fit under the stock hood, and the balls it takes to drive it. This thing has been hitting 230 mph since the '90s, and is reliable enough to drive itself to its own events.

Why it's so fast: When the split window was first built in 1963, 2,400 horsepower in a car was basically unthinkable. It'll get itself to 60 in 1 second and finish the quarter doing 210 mph. Not bad for something based on a car built when computers still filled an entire room.

What's cooler than a huge horsepower tuner car? A huge horsepower tuner car that you can drive …
Read more Read more

Why it's so fast: The "light car, big engine" philosophy was apparently lost on Larry Larson, whose '66 Nova weighs in at about 3,500 pounds. No matter, because it'll still beat everything else on the drag strip and the Las Vegas strip, which is where Mr. Larson has driven it after sub-7 second runs.

Why? Because he can. He's got a reliable old car that just happens to be the quickest thing you can drive down any Main Street in America.